The supreme court panel refused to investigate how Nigeria funded the legal costs after P&ID argued that Nigeria converted naira to sterling to meet the financial obligations to its English solicitors.
The supreme court rejected the argument of P&ID that if the award sum is paid in sterling, Nigeria “would gain a substantial windfall at its expense because the sterling sums which Nigeria paid to its solicitors were the equivalent of approximately 25 billion naira when they were paid whereas they are now the equivalent of 95 billion naira”.
The panel held that depreciation of naira has “resulted in a substantial diminution of the domestic purchasing power of the naira in Nigeria since 2019 and especially since 2023”.
“For all these reasons, which are essentially the same as those given by the Court of Appeal, we conclude that Knowles did not err in law in the exercise of his discretion,” the supreme court said.
“We add as a postscript that, contrary to P&ID’s submission, Nigeria does not enjoy a large windfall from this decision. The depreciation of its currency internationally has resulted in a substantial diminution of the domestic purchasing power of the naira in Nigeria since 2019 and especially since 2023.
“Since the hearing, the court has received submissions from the parties on costs. We would dismiss the appeal and award Nigeria their costs on the standard basis.”
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